Wednesday the 26th of November 2014What is social media?Social Media: Websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. History: Friends Reunited (1999), Myspace (2003), Facebook took over from Myspace in 2008 with the highest amount of unique users. Facebook has 1.35 billion users, Google + with 1 billion users and Twitter has 550 million users. 72% of users online have some form of social media platform, exposure or account.What brands do you follow on social media platforms and why?Consumer Opinion: To keep up to date with brands which post content considered either interesting or relevant to the individual users. The opinions related to brands attempting to ‘push products’ on social media are negative.Knowing your place, should all brands have a place on social?It’s important for brands to be social, to consider the consumer but perhaps for some brands it’s not as necessary to have as strong a digital presence. If you don’t have a ‘thing’ then you might struggle, although use of the word ‘thing’ here is incredibly vague and is presumably referring more to a niche market or specific products.An alternative opinion is that all brands should be thinking about social media and paying attention to what is happening within their market, keeping up to date with the latest trends and content in order not to get left behind. Most would agree that any feedback is crucial whether presented online or offline. Having a ‘story to tell’, something a consumer can perhaps ‘relate’ to or associate with familiarly. Culture, brand commitment and heritage are also seen as a priority when it comes to using social media. Regarding ‘thirteen minute long’ videos about brand history or product manufacturing, these are perhaps not as big a problem as they are seen to be. The problem is usually not the brand itself but the quality of the video, in which case, in order to develop a brand, in order to help a brand and to find solutions, one might suggest just making a better video. If at first you don’t succeed…The Oreo Moment: ‘During the third quarter of Super Bowl XLVII when a power outage at the Superdome caused some of the lights to go out for 34 minutes, the sandwich cookie’s social media team jumped on the cultural moment, tweeting an ad that read “Power Out? No problem” with a starkly-lit image of a solitary Oreo and the caption, “You can still dunk in the dark.” The message caught on almost immediately, getting nearly 15,000 retweets (as of this writing) and more than 20,000 likes on Facebook – not quite Beyoncé halftime show numbers, but pretty impressive for a one-off joke made by a cookie. The ad was also posted on Tumblr … with the note “Oreo won the Super Bowl blackout.”’ (wired.com/2013/02/oreo-twitter-super-bowl, 2013)Highlighting the importance of virality was another key point made. New marketing strategies on social media, some agencies are reluctant to express their successful social strategies.Social Hub: Should a toilet paper brand be on social media? If the audience is on social media, then definitely, possible ideas relating to content about procrastinating on the toilet, it relates to content being king. Some people don’t follow brands on social media and prefer to keep it personal.Reputation: Is all publicity on social media good publicity?Larger companies may struggle to change their reputation on social media, as opposed to smaller companies who might still stand a chance of rebranding and creating something from potential teething problems. Hiring the right people to put out messages on a brands behalf is important as for example, an intern may not quite understand the brand philosophy as well as a more senior member of staff. The authenticity of a brand is often exposed through social media. Putting negative content into context is a good way of really evaluating a brand and potentially coming up with constructive criticism regarding solutions. Customer service providers are often targeted on social media. Haters gonna hate… Good content and personality, as well as the realisation that a brand will not be able to please everyone is crucial for the success of a brand on social media. Investigating target audiences and moving away from likes and shares is one view on social media reach.Social Hub: Can over presence actually ruin a brand? No brand has ever folded due to negative publicity? Is this true? When consumers become influencers: Who is an influencer?Influencers have a strong internet presence, they make people go out and purchase products and they share their own content and the content of others. Influencers are now aware that they are influencers. Super fans can be used by companies to enhance their reputation, digitally and IRL. Traditional media influencers: Journalists, columnists etc. Non-traditional media influencers: Bloggers, etc. How does one person change another person’s behaviour, whether directly or indirectly? A difference being influenced and being aware that something exists. Using celebrities for credibility, as the face of brands such as those heavily involved with lifestyle. Culture significance, developing a brand with the culture surrounding it can enable influencers and affect consumers. Influence within circles or tribes, the digital tribal or circle leaders are often influencers. Social Hub: All brands have a place on social media; brands which turn negative comments into a positive debate have found a useful way of utilising digital. Is influence about changing feelings not influence of scale?

Sunday the 23rd of November 2014Yesterday was the first weekend in a while that we were able to relax, nowhere to go, no one to see and nothing of any significance to do. I woke up early, blew up balloons, decorated a cake and made sure everything was perfect. It was. I bought him an electric toothbrush, Andy Warhol Perrier water, a box of Raffaello and some other things. I took a photograph as I felt quite proud of the way everything looked on the table. I wrote a lot of Polish in his card. He laughed as I think a lot of it might have seemed a little silly, I didn’t mind though.We spent the rest of the day watching films, Back to The Future Part II and III, Looper and half of the first episode of the series Peaky Blinders. We fell asleep by 11PM and woke up relatively early this morning. We watched X Factor UK, skipping through the acts we found boring. He’s gone out now. I have finished planning lessons for Monday (my usual Sunday) and I need to start working on my research for Google Squared. I have to make a two minute introductory video and I’m desperately jotting down ideas. I’ve also been attempting to grasp the history of the internet in order to fully embrace my current role as a digital marketing and business student… ‘The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was one of the world’s first operational packet switching networks, the first network to implement TCP/IP, and one of the progenitors of what was to become the global Internet.’ It’s interesting how most of the new and exciting technology starts with the military.First Email Sent: 1971First Spam Email Sent: 1978I was surprised by those two dates so I thought I’d share them with anyone who happens to come across this blog. It’s so hard for me to write a blog post nowadays, I feel so out of practice, so busy with other things. I’m glad I’ve written this. I need to write more.

Sunday the 2nd of November 2014Last night, we went to Cmentarz Bródnowski for Wszystkich Swietych. I have never seen anything quite like it in my life; every grave was adorned with ornate decoration, candles and flowers. We wandered around in the cold of the night, reading the tombstones and talking about history. There were some dates which particularly interested us, mainly those relating to WW1 and WW2. I’ve finished planning for the five lessons I have on Monday which often causes me the most stress. I have my fingers crossed that I can use my USB flash drive in the classroom television to play some of the audio and video files I’m required to use. Teaching in a school full of accessible, up to date technology actually requires more preparation than teaching in one without sometimes as there is so much more choice. I enjoy the variation though; I think it’s much more pleasant for the students too, particularly the adult groups.A good traveller has no fixed plans.(Lau Tzu, Taoist Philosopher)I finished filling in my Google Squared Enrolment Questionnaire earlier today, I felt quite proud of my answers as it took me a lot of time to really think them through. My boyfriend helped me a lot by listening to me reading my drafts aloud. “By the time I graduate from Squared Online, I hope to have obtained the skills necessary for me to prosperously recognise and utilise digital trends. I am optimistic that this course will enable me to express my proficiency in a manner both creative and analytical, from development to fruition.” We also watched a lot of Google Squared introduction videos on YouTube in case I am required to make one myself during the first module. I’ve come up with a few ideas and have decided that more than a minute might just be too long to keep people interested. I’ve been thinking about Buzzfeed and the way a lot of their videos are written and filmed, food for thought.Thinking about whether you’re more of a leader, contributor, doer or facilitator takes time. Especially as my first response was facilitator, then I realised, no, I’m definitely more of a contributor. Have I worked in a virtual team before? Yes. Am I able to interpret digital measures of success and identify opportunities for testing or optimisation of current or future activity? Yes. There is an entire list of questions such as these to be answered using a scale of one to ten. The scale is linked to personal confidence.Anyway, this blog might take a slightly different direction in the future, as I progress on this new educational journey, the posts will no doubt become more closely associated with digital marketing. However, I hope this change will encourage (rather than discourage) readers.